Sigma 15-30mm EX

[RbnDave]

I am thinking of buying the Sigma 15-30 EX for my 10D. Does anyone have this lens. Are you happy with it? Are there any deals out there?

Dave

www.pbase.com/rbndave

[Bytes U]

I recently purchased that lens and I love it. It made a great addition to my 10D camera bag. I purchased it online at B&H since it's a lot more expensive and hard to find in Canada.

A quick example image...
http://4tg.ca/album/gillier/bc2003/IMG_0533.jpg

[IFLY]

I got my 10D last August, and decided, after some research, to opt for the Sigma 15- 30 EX. I had to get a new wide angle zoom lens, as my 28 -105 which served that purpose on my 12 year old EOS 100 was not fit for that job on the 10D, due to the 1,6 crop factor.

Choosing the Sigma was a struggle between quality issues and economics.

Having had that lens for 3 months, and using it a lot during my trip to Toscana and other parts of Italy, I have now some knowledge of its strength and weaknesses. These are my findings so far:

1. The lens is big and heavy, and adds a considerable weight to your 10D body. It is solid and well built.

2. It can produce brilliant results, but you have to be aware of its main drawback. As a 15mm wide angle lens, vith over 100° coverage, it is very, very prone to flare. If the light source is not almost behind you, you have to watch out, and check depth of field before shooting, as flare increases with higher f-stops.

3. This is not a lens with USM AF, so be prepared to hear some noise. In general I find the lens´AF quick and accurate, so no complaints here.

4. The price was favourable, and taking that into consideraton, I am comfortably happy with my decision, would have gone for the Canon glass though, if money had not been part of the game.

For an example of the lens´strong and weak points, please look at this capture, as well as other similiar in my gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/image/21516881

[RbnDave]

Thanks for the info guys.

[CyberDyneSystems]

re: lens flare and wide angle lenses on the 10D,

Although I don't have this lens,. the same trick will apply,. with the 10D's 1.6 crop factor,. the lens hoods on your wide angle lenses can be magde MUCH deeper and thus more efffective before it is long enough to cause any vignette.

I use a lens hood that is at least 4 times deeper and not as wide as the stock one that comes with the 17-40mm.

A cheap way to help would be to just make something out of stiff black card stock and tape it to the existing hood. (as the hood is NOT removable on the 15-30mm if memory serves me correctly)

[mickeyjuice]

Have one - love it.

I leave the 'lens cap/filter ring' on as an auxiliary hood.

You can see some examples here - http://photos.cross.com.au/ in the 'Perth' exhibition.

[scollins]

I recently bought mine for the D30, and have been VERY pleased with the results. Here's a picture with the Sigma 15-30 EX :

Exposure time 1/100 s
F-number 13
ISO speed ratings 200
Focal length 15 mm

http://www.seattlesteve.com/house.jpg

[psk4363]

Hi IFLY,

Can't comment from personal experience but one of our club members has the lens permanently attached to one of his camera bodies as he is so impressed with the quality and versatility it produces.

Cheers,
Barry

[RbnDave]

Thanks again for your responses.

I've been trolling around a lot of message boards trying to decide on a wide angle lens. The Sigma 15-30 has some great reviews, but I also am reading some bad things about flare and filter options. Have any of you tried to put a polarizer on this lense?

The reviews of the Canon 17-40 L are all great. I'm now trying to decide if the price difference is worth the quality difference.

Another option I'm looking at is the Sigma 15mm fisheye. I have yet to see a bad review of the Sigma fish. If I bought that lens, I could afford to also buy the Sigma 70-200/2.8 and I would have a complete set of lenses -- for my purposes -- when I include the Sigma 24-70 I already own.

Any advice? Should I slowly aquire expensive glass or go for the whole set in one shot? I'm taking a trip to California in two weeks so I am getting somewhat impatient about this decision. Having a high quality wide angle is important to me so I am starting to lean towards the Canon 17-40 L.

Dave

[CyberDyneSystems]

Dave,

I faced the same decison between the Sigma 15-30mm and the Canon 17-40mm

Although I have not used the 15-30mm outside of a camera store (and liked it plenty) what I can tell you is what influenced my final decison.

First for the record,. I am a 10D owner and a Sigma owner,. The majority of my lenses are Sigma and I like them all!

But,.. there were two strong reasons why I ended up with the 17-40mm.

1. When handling the 15-30mm in the shop I was nervous about it's peculiar design. The lack of an easy way to mount a filter to the front (87mm?) the built in hood, any filter you get will need to be mounted with the lens cover ring thing... it was all a little awkward.

... that said I would buy the 15-30 if it deleivered and the price was that big a difference. Which brings us to;

2. In this case, The price difference was not enough to warrant going Sigma over Canon "L"

To go from the Sigma to the 17-40mm I needed to spend an extra $250.00-$300.00 No it's not small change but it was not a ton either.

Consider that I purchased a Sigma 70-200mm f/2.8 over a Canon version in that case the price difference was about $700.00!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Your DAMN right I got the Sigma!

Likewise when it came time for a massive 500mm Prime,. compared to a Canon 500mm f/4 IS "L" the Sigma was $3,500.00 LESS!!!!!!

So,.. spend $800.00 instead of $550.00 and get the 17-40mm f/4 :)

[RbnDave]

Thanks CDS! I am almost sold on the Canon 17-40.

Did you try the Tokina 17mm prime? I've read several great reviews of that lens. One reviewer said it was better than the Canon 17-40. The Tokina sells for only $360.

[CyberDyneSystems]

No I had not heard of the Tokina,. I wouldn't be too surprised if the Prime is sharper.... having recently gotten my first high end prime i am stunned out how much better it is than any of my zooms!

[martcol]

rbndave wrote:
Have any of you tried to put a polarizer on this lense?


This lens won't take filters on the front. It has the little slot for putting gel filters on the other end.

Martcol

[Phil Hall]

I had nothing but problems with the Sigma 15-30 on a D30, mainly focusing. I think it was the actual lense, I traded it in for a Canon 16-35 and have been very happy. I suggest you try out the lense on your camera before buying.

[elm54]

Hi,
IFLY wrote:
IFor an example of the lens´strong and weak points, please look at this capture, as well as other similiar in my gallery:
http://www.pbase.com/image/21516881


I really like this image. It's sharpness is superb. I'm wondering though... and this is not a criticism{sp?} is that barrel and or pin cushion distortion? I'm asking because I have these taken with a canon 24-70mm ( as examples ) on the wide end
http://elm54.home.acedsl.com/pages/IMG_2486.htm
http://elm54.home.acedsl.com/pages/IMG_2488.htm
Now I've worked on these images and always feel I can't get them "squared out" Sorry if I've gone off topic but I am starting to see this in alot of my wide shots and would like to find out about a fix or enhancement to it . And I apolagize if my definitions are wrong. Or if it is a compisitional error on my part, but straightening them out is exasperating and if I don't the image seems to throw me off balance.
Thanks,
Eric